Miscellaneous

Pool Memoir

On Monday I received an email with a link to a Leonard Lopate interview with Heather Byer, author of the recently published "Sweet: An Eight-ball Odyssey." When I realized a large part of it dealt with the NYC APA league it was only a few hours before I had a copy in my hands. I finished the book yesterday. To sum it up, it's Byer's memoir about picking up a cue, literally, and learning how to play pool. She starts out at pool school at Chelsea Billiards and gets invited to join an APA team. She writes about her teammates as well as the places she plays. She changes her teammates' names to protect their identities and is also somewhat vague about bar locations. Apparently she played a lot in the East Village, and does in fact mention Ace Bar by name. She also mentions a whole slew of Third Avenue bars: Barfly, Bullshead Tavern, Plug Uglies and Paddy McGuires. Though it's not mentioned by name, Bleecker Street Bar is another, considering it's the only bar "near Crosby Street" that has three pool tables. She mentions SoHo Billiards, Broadway Billiards Cafe, Corner Billiards and later in the book bemoans the Chelsea Billiards/Slate transformation.

I read somewhere once, something to the effect of "playing pool, like playing poker or wearing stiletto heels, is something that one should learn between ages 12 and 17, or never at all." Byer doesn't start playing until her 30s. She claims that she's never held a pool cue until until then, which I can't fathom. But over the course of five or so years she follows her passion for pool and sticks with it, even through an eight-match losing streak.

I have mixed opinions about the book. I would say technically the book is good, it was a decent read. I did get the feeling it was a bit dumbed-down in terms of technical pool details. There is a romance factor to this book that I would guess you could say is central to the story, but I was sort of bored by it. The lines that made me laugh were describing what jerks she would come across in her matches, as well as other stories about league nights. I was nowhere near as glued to "Sweet" as I was to David McCumber's "Playing Off the Rail." But I don't think the two books are a necessary comparison. No doubt this book has gotten more publicity. Surprisingly, I came across another interview with Byer via the Boston affiliate of NPR which can be found here. In the end, I'm glad she got the book published. She's giving a reading next month at KGB bar. I think I'll go and check it out.

The Monotony of Missing: A Billiards Practice Session

On Saturday I decided to take the 7 train out to Queens to practice my three-cushion skills. To make a long story short, the 7 was shut down in both directions. So I had to take a shuttle bus that took me past a place I'd never heard of, Spin City Billiards. I got off the bus and went in to check it out. One peek inside and I knew I was in a great spot. They had five or so Chevilottes, and a few other smaller pocketless tables that I was told are for a four-ball game called Yotsudama. Three snooker tables, all in use, were in the back and then of course there was a sea of regular pool tables. What's even better is that Spin City Billiards is only 11 blocks way from Master Billiards, where I usually play and where I was headed initially. A happy accident.

I hadn't played since last fall. And once I posted this recently I started itching to play again. It takes a while to get into the three-cushion mindset. Lately, in 8 ball, I've seen a lot of improvement in my cross-side banking. But a cross-side bank is child's play compared to what you need to know in billiards. Often I'd hit the first object ball too full and be left with no movement on my cue ball. Or, I'd nick past an object ball in a desultory attempt to get three rails, only to find I'd end up nowhere near the third ball. It's just tough. You get impatient. The constant missing can be a little numbing at times. I think a lot of it is that I have no real concept of what a safety is in billiards; every shot I made was an attempt to score a point. At the table next to me there were two guys playing and one of them (above) was routinely stringing together three- or four-point runs. After my hour was up I had scored six points.

Then I was off to Master Billiards for another hour of practice, which immediately got off to a better start. Here is a little video, mostly of misses. But I was scoring often enough that I did manage to capture a few successful shots in it. Look for when the camera switches to a wide shot of the entire table (:50 into video/1:30 remaining) and you can see two shots in a row where I almost score. Also, the five-railer at the end was a good feeling. It's hard to compare pool and billiards. It's sublime. It's more like in golf, sinking an impossible 25-foot putt on a green with a slope and a dip. It requires not only precise aim, but also precise tempo. It's tempting to think it's something outside of you, luck, that made the ball roll in. But then you realize "No, I planned that. I aimed it that way. I sure as hell am taking credit for it."

Hudson Hotel

I took the picture above May 1, 2002 in the Library Bar at the Hudson Hotel on W. 58th Street. I was there for the Village Voice, photographing a party that was being hosted by hotelier Ian Schrager. In all honesty, I was pretty bored photographing people standing around holding their drinks trying to look and sound important. So I wandered around a bit and came across this library room with a pool table. According to the HH website, the library is "reminiscent of an old English club or drawing room" and is "the perfect cozy hangout for relaxing by the enormous fireplace, chatting and drinking with friends [or] shooting billiards." Herbert Muschamp of the NYT writes that the room is dominated "by a pool table of British imperial aspirations." Travel & Leisure Magazine agrees that the "antique, royal purple pool table" dominates the room. They go on to say the ambience is "positively Ivy League." Indeed, the New York Observer went so far as to claim the "best thing" about the room is "the pool table in the center, covered in purple baize." While both the New York Observer and the NYT make mention of Ingo Maurer's metallic lamp shade above the pool table, it was only the Sunday Observer Magazine that made any mention of what I felt was most peculiar: photographer Jean-Baptiste Mondino's shots of cows wearing couture hats. Needless to say, I have to go back check this place out again.

lonely tables

Playerless pool tables, as promised. Above is 119 Bar. Located on E. 15th Street just off of Union Square, it's a staple for Irving Plaza concert attendees. Even though it's not one of my go-to bars, I like stopping in when I'm in the area. I've played there countless times and have always had a good time. They have a well-worn chalkboard for putting your name up, and it makes the wait to play virtually painless. I look forward to my next visit there.

Over to Third Avenue and down a few blocks is Bar None. I've never played pool there, but I recently came across a picture I took July 3, 2002, of a cigarette hanging on the edge of the Bar None pool table. I've walked by here a lot recently and next time I see some folks playing I'm going to stop in and take them on.

Below is a picture from Hanger, located on E. 3rd Street between Avenue B and C. I photographed this bar for the Village Voice in 2004 after it opened. They have since acquired a pool table, which is always good news. Unfortunately, it is impossibly dim in there. This picture tells it all.

Finally, a photograph from 40C, at 40 Avenue C near 3rd. After this photo caught my attention, I had to seek it out. After asking around, I finally found it. I'm all for the back room of a bar being devoted to a pool table, as I was expecting to be the case there. But the first thing I noticed was that the table had been moved out toward the middle of the bar. A good thing? It definitely appears to fill the space nicely. But I'll have to go back and spend some time there when more people are around.